Sheet feeding mechanism



Aug. 1`, 1933. E. F. DUDLEY 1,920,295

SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM FiledJune 15,A 1928 "5 sheets-sheet 1 l l yward/vnd@ l @mm3 ly.

Augl, 1933- E. DUDLEY 1,920,295

SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Filed June l5. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 hz/eff-- lfda/ard @Maw M @m ugl 1933- E. F. DUDLEY 1,920,295

SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Filed June l5, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 PatentedAug..y 1, 1933 SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Edward F. Dudley, Oak Park, Ill.,assignor to the Miehle Printing Press & Manufacturing Company, Chicago,Ill., a Corporation of Illinois Application June 15, 1928. Serial No.285,617

15 Claims.

This invention relates to sheet feeding mechanism, particuiarly adaptedfor printing presses, and more specifically relatesl to means commonlyknown in the art as pluralsheet detectors operative to indicate whenmore than one sheet is fed to the printing couple, or to stop the pressunder such conditions.

While the invention is not limited to the use in connection with anyparticular type of machinery, I have chosen to illustrate it as appliedto a printing press having a so-called stop gripper mechanism, whichtype of mechanism, as isJWell known in the art, functions to engage aregistered sheet while at rest on a registering table and thereupontransfers it at an accelerating speed to a rotating impression cylinderor the like. In order to maintain accurate register of a sheet while itis being transferred from the registering table to the cylinder, it isessential to impart to the stop grippers such acceleration that at thetime when the sheet is being taken over by the cylinder grippers, itwill have attained the surface speed of the cylinder. y

One of the primary objects of my invention is to provide plural sheetdetector mechanism which can be readily applied to stop grippermechanism and which can be adjusted to a large number of predeterminedpositions within given limits, in order to accommodate any thickness ofstock' within such limits.

To accomplish this and other objects, which will be apparent from thefollowing description and .appended claims, I have provided a simple andpositively operating mechanism, one preferred form of which isillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a. plan View taken across that portion of the sheet feedingmechanism to which my invention is applied;

Figure 2 is an elevation taken from the right as viewed in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fractional cross section `taken along line 3-3 of Figure1;

Figure A4 is a fractional view of a detail;

Figuresv 5 and 6 are views in elevation showing the stop grippermechanism in'twodifferent positions of its sheet transferring movement;while Figures 7 and 8 show one preferred form and arrangement ofpneumatic means whereby the operation of the press is interrupted when asheet is not in proper register.

Referring rst to Figure 3 of the drawings, the stop gripper mechanism10, which'extends substantially over the entire width of the press, isshown in that position in which it is at rest, i. e.

in which a sheet is presented to the stop grippers and ready to betransferred in a known manner at an accelerating speed from the sheetregistering means to the impression cylinder C or the like of thepress.,

As will be seen, with reference to Figure 3, the sheets ll are advancedin the direction indicated by the arrow, over a series of rotary rollers12, some of which rollers cooperatewith balls 13,

loosely mounted within sockets 14, carried by side y registeringmechanism, which latter also is of a known construction. By thecooperation of said balls 13 with rollers 12, the sheets are movedlaterally against suitable side stops for the.A purpose of sideregistering the sheets prior to reaching the front guides by means ofwhich tneleal-l ing edge of the sheet is registered in a wellL-'mownmanner.

Accordingto the preferred form of construef. tion, the front guides orstops 15 are carried 15 the stop gripper mechanism. The latter is alsoprovided with air ducts 16 which communicate with suitable pneumaticallycontrolled mechanism whereby the operation of stop gripper mechanismandfpreferably also the operation of the press itself, is interrupted inthe event that a sheet is not advanced against the front register` ingguides, and does not seal the air ducts 16.

According to my invention, I provide a plate 17 which is secured to apivoted shaft 18 by 85 means of suitable brackets or the like, notshown, so that it may be rocked with said shaft. The latter alsocarries, preferably at each end, brackets 19 at the free ends of whichare mounted cam rollers 20 cooperating with adjustable cams 90 212 Asclearly shown in Figure 3, the cams 2l are formed with notches or steps22 which correspond to the various positions into which the plate 1'7 isto be adjusted. By presenting to the roller 20 the notch whichcorresponds to the par- 95 ticular thickness of stock to be fed, the gapbetween the surface 23 of the stop gripper mechanism and the surface ofthe plate 17 is determined, that is to say, said gap is adjusted toaccommodate the thickness of the stock to be handled.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, the free end of the shaft24 on which the cams 21 are mounted carries an adjustable ldisc 25 whichis loose on the shaft 24. Said disc is formed with a recess 26 whichcooperates with a withdrawable plunger 27 carried by the handle 28,which latter is keyed to the shaft 24. The disc 25 furthermore is formedwith holes 29 adapted to be brought into alignment with a.

threaded bore provided in the frame 30 of the machine. In order tosecure said disc in the required position, a thumb screw 3l is providedwhich passes through the respective hole 29 and screws into the threadedbore in the frame. The number of holes 29 correspond with the number ofnotches or steps 22 of the cam 21.

The operation of the mechanism just described is as follows: Assumingthat the gap required between the face 23 of the stop gripper mechanismand the surface of the plate 17 corresponds wth the highest stop of thecam 21, the thumb screw 31 is passed through the uppermost holeindicated by the numeral 5 in Figure 2, and the disc is adjusted bybringing the hole 5 into alignment with the threaded bore provided inthe frame and the thumb screw 31 is tightened up to securely hold thedisc 25 against the frame 30. DuringA such adjustment, the plunger 27 isheld out of engagement with the recess 26 provided in the flange 25.After the disc 25 has been secured in the required position, the plunger27 is released and the handle 28 is moved until the plunger engages therecess 26, thereby locking the cam 21 in its position where it willpresent its highest stop to the roller 20.

It will be readily understood that the gap provided by this adjustmentWill accommodate only one sheet of the respective thickness at one time,and therefore, if a plurality of superposed sheets happens to be fedtowards the front guides 15, the sheets will be prevented from passinginto the gap between the face 23 and plate 17; consequently the sheetswill jam in front of the air ducts 16, leaving them unsealed, therebycausing the actuation of the pneumatically controlled mechanism andinterrupting the operation of the press in a well known manner.

As hereinbefore referred to, automatic means of any suitable design maybe provided for interrupting the operation of the transfer grippermechanism or for stopping the press itself in the event that the airducts 16 remain unsealed after a sheet should have been fed intoregister with the front stops 15.

Figures 5 and 6 illustrate the manner in which the sheets, after havingbeen properly registered against the stops 15, are transferred from thesheet registering means, i. e. plate 17, to the cylinder C of the press.Preferably the stop gripper mechanism is mounted on a rock shaft 36 tooscillate between the sheet registering means and the cylinder of thepress. Any other preferred form, however, could be adopted for thepurpose of supporting and oscillating the stop gripper mechanism.

Figure 5 shows the position of the stop gripper arm 10 at that time whena sheet 11 has been engaged by the stop grippers 37 just prior to thecommencement of the transfer movement. It will be seen that `when asheet is in proper register with the stops 15 and engaged by thegrippers 37 the air ducts 16 remain sealed during the transfer movement,thereby rendering said automatic means ineffective. As hereinbeforeindicated, the latter is timed so that if the ducts 16 do not becomesealed by the sheet of material at the moment when the transfer movementof the stop gripper mechanism should commence, said mechanism willautomatically become locked against any movement.

Iny Figure 6, the stop gripper arm 10 is shown in its position after thesheet 11 has been transferred to the cylinder grippers 38. The speed ofthe stop gripper mechanism is accelerated during the transfer movementof the sheet, so that at the instant when the sheet is released by thegrippers 37 and taken over` by the cylinder grippers 38 the surfacespeed of the arm 10 is equal to the surface speed of the cylinder C.Thereby accurate register of the sheets to be fed to the press ismaintained.

The means for oscillating the stop gripper mechanism and foraccelerating the speed thereof, and they means for actuating thegrippers 37 and 38 may be of any suitable design.

Figures 7 and 8 show a preferred form of means whereby the operation ofthe press is interrupted when a sheet is not properly presented to thefront stops, that is to say, when a sheet is not in proper register.While I show an arrangement according to which the transfer or stopgripper mechanism 10 is held inoperative by means of a pneumaticallycontrolled mechanism, it is obvious that without departing from theprinciple of my invention, means could be provided whereby the pressitself can be stopped when a sheet is not properly fed thereto.

The air ducts 16 in the arm 10 are connected by suitable tubing to thenipple 39 of the pneumatic mechanism, shown in Figure 8. Anotherconnection leads from the nipple 40 to a vacuum pump or the like, notshown. Within the vacuum box 41 is arranged a diaphragm 42, which duringnormal operation of the press is held in the position indicated by thebroken lines in Figure 8 by means of a spring 43. The diaphragm 42 isoperatively connected with the plunger 44 by means of a stem 45, lever46, and stern 47 of the plunger 44.

As shown in Figure 7, the means for oscillat ing the transfer. grippermechanism comprises a gear sector 48 mounted on the rack shaft 36, whichcarries the arm 10 of the transfer gripper mechanism. The sector 48meshes with another gear sector 49, which is pivotally supported on themachine frame at 50. The sector 49 is formed with a laterally extendingarm 51 to the extreme end of which is pivoted an operating rod 52, thefree end of which is slidably supported in any suitable manner. A coilspring 53 embraces the rod 52 and acts to push the arm 51 upwardly andthereby the roller 54 against the cam 55, which is keyed to theimpression cylinder shaft 56, so as to rotate with the cylinder duringthe operation of the press.

When the roller 54 rides from the high portion of the cam 55 towards thelow portion of said cam, the sector 49 will be moved to the right by thespring 53, and as viewed in Figure 7, swing the sector 48 upwardly,thereby swinging the transfer gripper arm 10 in an anti-clockwisedirection.

The sector 48 is formed with the recess 57 in order to receive theplunger 44 of the vacuum mechanism which is controlled through the airducts 16 in the arm 10.

While the plunger 44 is withdrawn as shown in Figure 8, the sector 48,and therewith the transfer gripper mechanism, is free to oscillatebetween the feed board of the press and the impression cylinder C.

When a sheet does not reach the front guides on the transfer grippermechanism, or when a sheet is not properly registered therewith, the airducts 16 will remain open and consequently the air will not be exhaustedfrom the vacuum box 41, and the spring 43 will force the plunger 44outwardly so that it will enter the recess 57 when presented inalignment therewith during the reciprocation of the transfer gripper arm10 and sector 48 which moves therewith.

At that time the high portion of the operating cam 55 will be inposition opposite to that illustrated in Figure 7, and the sector 49,which meshes with the sector 48, as hereinbefore described, will havebeen moved to the left due to the cooperation of the roller 54 with thecam 55. Therefore duringk the continued rotation of the cylinder shaft56, to which the cam 55 is secured, the roller 54 will be held out ofengagement with the cam55.

Under certain conditions, such as for example, when tissuepaper or any`other extremely thin stock is handled, the adjustment of the plate 17relatively to the face 23 of the transfer gripper mechanism is suchthatthe gap, which remains between the plate 17 and said face, is so smallthat the ducts 16 become practically sealed, resulting in the operationof the press being interrupted. In order to avoid such conditions, Iprovide in the edge ofthe plate 17 a' number of slots 32 correspondingwith the air ducts. 16, so that under any circumstances air can freelypass between the plate 17 .and the face 23 of the stop grippermechanism.

In known types of printing presses, provision is madewhereby the feedingmechanism, together with the' cooperating registering mechanism, can beswung out horizontally and away from cooperative relation with thetransfer mechanism. In order to adapt my invention for. `use inconnection with such presses, I provide locking bolts`\ 33 whereby thefeeding mechanism and associated parts may be locked against lateralmovement. Preferably, the inner portion of said `bolts is formed with arack 34 which is in mesh with gear teeth 35 provided on the shaft 24 asshown in Figure 4. In order to permit the lateral removal of the feedingmechanism, etc., it will be necessary to swing thehandle 28 down untilthe bolts 33 are withdrawnfrom their locking engagement with the pressframe, and therefore the plate 17 will also be swung down so that itwill not interfere with any parts of the press ywhen the feedingmechanism is moved out horizontally.

I claim:

1. In sheet feeding mechanism of a printing press or the like, thecombination of oscillating sheet transfer gripper means adapted toconvey a sheet of material to the printing couple of the press, and aplural sheet detector member operatively associated with said sheettransfer means to interrupt the operation of the latter when more thanone sheet at a time is presented to said member.

2. In sheet feeding mechanism of a printing press or the like, thecombination of sheet registering means, sheet transfer gripper meansarranged between said registering means and the printing members of thepress, to convey a sheet of material from said registering means to saidprinting member, and a plural sheet detector member operativelyassociated with said sheet transfer means to interrupt the operation ofthe latter when more than one sheet at a time is presented to saidmember.

3. In sheet feeding mechanism of a-'printing press or the like, thecombination of sheet registering means, oscillating sheet transfergripper mechanism adapted to grip and convey a sheet of material fromsaid registering means to the printing couple of the pressfand a pluralsheet detector member operatively associated with said gripper mechanismto interrupt the operation of the press whenmore than one sheet at atime is presented to said member.

4. In sheet feeding mechanism of a printing press or the like, thecombination of sheet registering means comprising a series of rollerscooperating with one or morespherical members to control asheet, sheettransfer gripper means adapted to oscillate between said registeringmeansand the printing couple of the press to grip and convey a sheet ofmaterial from said registering means to said printingcouple, and aplural sheet detector member operatively associated with said` sheettransfer means to interrupt the operation of the latter when more thanone sheet at a time is presented to said member.

5. In `sheet feeding mechanism of a printing press or the like, thecombination of sheet registering means comprising `a series of rollerscooperating with-,one or more spherical members to side register asheet, reciprocating sheet transfer gripper means adapted to convey asheet of material from said registering means to the printing couple ofthe press, and a plural sheet detector-member `operatively associatedwithsaid sheet transfer means to interrupt the operation VAof the latterwhen more than one sheet at a time .is presentedto said member.

6. In sheet feeding mechanism of a printing press or the like, thecombination of sheet registering means, sheet transfer gripper meansreciprocating between said registering means and the printing couple ofthe press to convey a sheet of material from said registering means tosaid printing couple, and a plural lsl'ieet detector member operativelyassociatedv with pneumatically controlled means to interrupt' theoperation of said sheet transfer gripper means'when more than one sheetis presented at a time to said detector. l

7. In sheet feeding mechanism of a printing press or the like, thecombination of sheet registering means, a reciprocating sheet carrieradapted to transfer a sheet of material from said registering means tothe printing couple of the press, and a plural sheet detector memberadapted for adjustment to any desired nu'mber of positions Within givenlimits and operatively associated with said reciprocating sheet carrierto interrupt the operation of the latter when more than one sheet ispresented at a timeto said detector member.

8. In sheet feeding mechanism of a printing press or the like, thecombination of sheet registering means, a reciprocating sheet carrieradapted to engage a sheet while at rest and to transfer it from saidregistering means to the printing couple of the press, and a pluralsheet detector member adapted for adjustment to any desired number ofpredetermined positions within given limits and operatively associatedwith said reciprocating sheet carrier to interrupt the operation of thelatter when more than one sheet is'presented at a time to said detectormember.

9. In sheet feeding` mechanism of a printing press or the like, thecombination of sheet registering means, a reciprocating sheet carrieradapted to engage a sheet while at rest and to transfer it from saidregistering means to the printing couple of the press, and a pluralsheet detector member adapted for adjustment to any desired number ofpredetermined positions within given limits and operatively associatedwith pneumatically controlled means to interrupt the operation of saidreciprocating sheetcarrier when more than one sheet is presented at atime to said detector member.

10. In a printing press or the like, the" combination `of sheet feedingmeans, sheet registering means, a reciprocating sheet carrier adapted toengage a sheet While at rest and to convey it from said registeringmeans to the printing couple of the press, and a plural sheet detectormember operatively'associated with said sheet carrier.

1l. In a printing press or the like, the combination of sheet feedingmeans', sheet registering means, an oscillating sheet transfer grippermember adapted to engage a sheet while` at rest and to convey it fromsaid registering means to;i the printing couple of the press, and aplural sheet detector member operatively associated with said grippermember and adjustable relatively thereto.

12. In a printing press or the like, the combination of sheet feedingmeans, sheet registering means, an oscillating sheet transfer grippermember adapted to engage a sheet While at rest and to convey it fromsaid registering means to the printing couple of the press, a pluralsheet detector member operatively associated with said gripper` member;means for adjusting said detector member relatively to said grippermember, and means ,to move said detector member out of cooperativerelation with said gripper member.

:13. In a printingpress or the like, the combination of sheetregistering means, an oscillating sheet transfer gripper mechanismadapted to convey a sheet of material from said registering means to theprinting couple of the press and comprising a sheet engaging memberextending completely across the leading edge of a sheet of material forpreventing buckling of said edge, and a plural sheet detector memberoperatively associated with said sheet engaging member.

14. In a printing press or the like, the combination of sheetregistering means, an oscillating sheet transfer mechanism adapted toconvey a sheet of material from said registering means to the printingcoupleof the press, a plural sheet detector member operativelyassociated with said transfer mechanism, means for adjusting saiddetector member relatively to said transfer mechanism, means tor movesaid detector member out of cooperative relation with said transfermechanism, and locking means associated with said `detector member, tohold said sheet registering means in cooperative relation With saidsheet transfer mechanism, said locking means being held in its lockedposition when said detector member is in its operative position, butwhen 4the latter is moved out of cooperative relation with said transfermechanism. said locking means is withdrawn. Y

15. In a printing press, the combination of sheet feeding means, animpression cylinder, oscillating sheet transfer means arranged to engagea sheet while at rest on said sheet feeding means to convey it to saidcylinder, and pneumatically controlled mechanism operatively associatedWith said transfer meanswhereby the operation of the press isinterrupted When a sheet is not in proper register.

EDWARD F. DUDLEY.

